Kelly's Quest (NYC LOVE Book 2) (3 page)

My stomach becomes a mess of nerves. “Shouldn’t we be helping the guys carry stuff in?”

“Theo and James can get most of it. It’s not like we have a lot of things.”

Blowing out a long, stuttering breath, I look to the patio doors. Friends and family back home are the only ones who know the whole story, and I haven’t had to tell anyone else before now. “Do you have any beer, or wine, or anything that will make this process less painful?”

Jewels slumps in the couch. “Shit, that bad?”

“Two bottles of wine should do the trick.”

With a bright smile, she sits taller. “Wait, I have a bottle of champagne I was going to drink tonight once we’re moved in. Since Adam isn’t really supposed to drink with me anyway, I may as well share it with you instead of drinking alone.” She leans in to kiss my cheek. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

I lift my hands up, smirking. “I
literally
have absolutely
nowhere else
to go.”

As I watch her disappear inside, I let my shoulders fall, ready to drop the façade I’ve worked so hard to keep the past few days, and finally let myself fall apart. The brutal look of disappointment in my dad’s eyes and the anguished cries of my mom are still too raw. They settle in the pit of my stomach like a ball made of concrete. I made the right decision to come out here indefinitely. A fresh start is exactly what I need.

“Taking a break already?” Theo asks from the doorway. “Afraid to break a sweat, Cavenaugh?”

Surprised by his sudden presence, I let out a quiet gasp. His dark, deeply set eyebrows looming over his hazel eyes always have a way of turning my insides to pudding. I’m not usually one to fall for a guy with a military-like haircut, and I really don’t get why Theo keeps it up considering he’s moved on from the Marines to the entertainment world. Still his sculpted mouth and sharp jaw highlighting his square face makes the look actually rather fitting.

When I saw him standing on the steps to the brownstone my first day in the city, I thought Jewels and Adam had changed their mind about hiring a moving company, because he’s so well built that I’m sure he could move a couch with the strength of his pinky. Then I realized he’s the guy I’d seen in pictures with Jewels and Adam from their trip to New York at the beginning of summer. The fact that he can volley back and forth with me without batting his dark eyelashes makes him even hotter. I’ve always considered it to be a good sign of character when a guy can keep up with my sarcasm.

I sigh under my breath. Why is my best friend always surrounded by crazy hot guys? I mean, I get that she’s a natural knockout, and she’s fun to hang around because she’s funny and sincerely cares about her friends. I get that hot guys are naturally drawn to her, but the sight of Theo’s bulging muscular arms does things to my sexual desires that should be considered indecent in public. Jewels told me she once “caught” him naked, and said that his entire body could be declared a national treasure. I lick my lips when I try to picture whatever it was that she saw.

Theo regards me with the same hot desire, one of his dark eyebrows raised. “You okay? You need...something?”

Although we’ve been alone for a minute or two before, I’m hyper-aware that we’re standing in the romantic backyard Adam created for Jewels. The
private
,
romantic backyard where anything could happen, and the neighbors wouldn’t see. Feeling an excited pang down below, I shift my legs.

Theo’s exactly the kind of guy I should be avoiding: the self-absorbed type who works out for show, and goes through women the way I once went through men—enjoy and discard. The last time I fell for someone like him, it started the downward spiral that landed me here.

I’m not here to have sex. I’m not here to have sex. I’m not here to have sex.

Yeah, right. No matter how many times I chant the mantra, I can’t shake the image of mounting the insanely hot, former soldier-turned-television producer. The Marine Corps symbol tattooed on his calf muscle makes me wonder if there are more tattoos on his body that I could explore. With my tongue.

“Don’t you have some cars to bench or something?” I ask, irritated by his relentless ability to turn me on.

He grins, his eyes smoldering. “Sweetheart, I could bench
you
if you want.”

I lick my lips again, feeling the onset of a panic attack. This is new, incredibly dangerous territory. I’m well accustomed to guys wanting to get it on with me, even some who were as delicious as Theo, but those days are over. So how in the
hell
do I say no to an offer like that?

“What makes you think I’d be interested in such a thing?” I retort, my voice sounding the exact opposite of confident.

Theo strides across the patio toward me, his grin growing wider. My eyes flicker down to his shorts to discover his grin isn’t the only thing enlarged. “Because I see the way your body responds to mine.” He stops, tilting my chin up with his sausage-like finger. My skin flushes expectantly with his touch. “And I see the way those gorgeous brown eyes size me up.”

“There’s an awful lot of you to...
size
.” I attempt to swallow, but fail miserable. It feels as if a bonfire has been set inside of me. Holy shit, I want to do things to this hottie that would make my married sister flush.

His thumb brushes along my lower lip. “What do you say you and I make a little magic?” I close my eyes, unable to stop myself from responding to his touch. “How many days do we have before you leave the city?”

With his last question, my eyes pop open. Maybe I’ve become über sensitive with all that’s happened in my past and Jewels’s recent assumption that I wanted to hook up with Erik, but since Theo thinks I’m about to leave, and only wants a one-time fling suddenly makes me feel dirty and disposable.

I lean away like I’ve been backhanded. “What makes you assume I’d want to ‘make magic’
with you?”

“I’m sorry, I thought that’s what we were hinting at here.” He blinks several times, appearing blown away by my question. “And Jewels said—”

“Fuck what Jewels said!” I spring to my feet and dart to the patio door, struggling to find my breath. I can’t pretend it doesn’t hurt that my best friend would sell me out like that. I throw Theo a resentful look over my shoulder. “And you can forget it, because I’m not going to
fuck
you!”

“Wait a minute,” Theo calls after me. “That’s not—”

I move past Jewels and Adam who are busy directing the movers where to put the new furniture. Jewels has the bottle of champagne in her hand, but she doesn’t seem to notice me as I sneak past the living room. I grab my purse off a moving box in the entryway and slip out the front door.

My mind’s racing as
I dart inside the tavern at the end of the block. The dark quiet of the place offers exactly the kind of refuge I need to clear my head, and a good dose of alcohol will help calm me down.

After all I’ve done for Jewels, all the times I picked her up when she fell down, all the times I let her cry on my shoulder, she had the nerve to tell Theo I was good to go for a one-night stand? The sting of betrayal swells inside of me, festering into a deep rage.

I guess it really shouldn’t come as a surprise. I’ve spent a lifetime being less than stellar in the eyes of those I love. Of the five daughters my parents raised, I was their biggest disappointment. The first couple years of high school I maintained a pretty decent GPA like the rest of them, but I wasn’t president of the debate team like Megan, or a starter for the basketball team like Sarah. I didn’t place as a runner-up for junior beauty pageants like Glori, or sweep state records for hurdles in track and field like Ella.

It was always challenging to get past the fact that I was unaccomplished in my parents’ eyes. As the youngest, my far less notable achievements were swept under the rug to make way for my far more gifted sisters. By my senior year, I became more concerned with locating the next big party, and setting my sights on the biggest hottie of the bunch to become my latest conquest. I was obsessed with the idea of finding someone who would treat me special, burning through guy after guy and never really having a boyfriend.

Because my grades took a considerable dive, my chances of being accepted to some of the most prestigious colleges in the country that I once had my sights set on were shattered. By that point, however, I really didn’t give a shit.

I wish I could still say I didn’t give a shit, but the way my parents and everyone else sees me now really stings.

“What’ll ya have?” a short redhead asks from behind the bar as I settle into one of the dark green stools. She’s exceptionally spindly with bright green eyes set close together, and smiles tightly like she knows it’s the only way she’ll score any tips.

I pull out my wallet and flash my ID. “Whiskey sour. Better yet, just Jameson on the rocks. Make it a double.”

I hear a low snicker behind me. Rather suddenly, Adam’s brother slips onto the stool at my side, his baby blues flashing down to where my shirt dips low. “I would’ve pictured you as a daiquiri kind of girl.”

Suddenly I wish I would’ve taken my sister, Ella, up on the can of mace she offered to send along. I tend to be a magnet for douchebags, and apparently Erik is no exception, even if he
is
infuriatingly attractive. “When you suggested we get together for drinks
sometime
, I never would’ve guessed that was code for
ten minutes
. Are you stalking me?”

“Last I checked, bars are considered a public domain.” He peers into the glass of clear liquid in his hands, snorting. “And I needed a drink, apparently just like you.”

Narrowing my eyes, I whisper, “Aren’t you, like, eighteen or something?”

He leans in close, his warm breath tickling my neck. “Twenty in a few months, actually. And newsflash, it doesn’t take much to get your hands on a legit ID. I would even venture to guess you had one not too long ago.”

I lean away, clearing my throat. “I picture someone of your
stature
having a little higher standards than this place.” When the bartender sets a glass in front of me, I add, “No offense.”

She shrugs. “I only work here. That’ll be ten dollars.”

“For this?” I ask, gesturing to the small tumbler glass.

“Welcome to New York,” Erik tells me, tossing her a crisp $100 bill. “I’ve got this.”

“Thanks, I guess,” I mutter before knocking the drink back in a series of large gulps. Shivering, I slam the glass back on the worn wooden bar and nod at the bartender. “I’ll take another, please.”

Erik chuckles. “Slow down there, Lohan. Whatever got your
panties
in a bundle isn’t going to be solved with you stumbling your way around the city.”

I don’t miss the heavy sexual undertone he uses for the word “panties.” Recoiling, I curl my lip. “Back off. Just because you bought me a drink does
not
mean you can fantasize about my panties.” The whiskey burns its way down into my stomach, reminding me it’s nearing lunchtime and I have yet to eat today. At this rate I’ll be drunk in no time.

“That’s rather presumptuous of you. Do I look like the kind of guy who would indulge in sexual fantasies?” He watches me with a rather obnoxious smirk that, for some reason, wedges its way beneath my skin.

My phone buzzes with a string of texts from Jewels asking where I went. Silencing it, I motion for the bartender to refill my glass. “All I know is the way you were trying to get a look at my tits just now, it’s safe to assume you’re not gay.”

“That automatically means I fantasize about you naked?”

“I thought we were talking about my panties.” I set a $20 bill on the bar before turning to him. “Look. I’m not interested in hooking up with you. So you can stop this flirting thing before you exhaust yourself.”

With a delightful grin, he runs his fingertips across my arm, bringing goosebumps the the surface of my skin. “I love an assertive woman. They’re usually capable of some mind blowing skills in the bedroom.”

“You can forget it. I’m not going to start messing around with someone my best friend clearly doesn’t approve of.”

I down the next double shot of whiskey and bring it back down on the bar, welcoming the glowing burn that settles in my bones. Drinking when I can’t deal with my emotional turmoil is never a good idea as it almost always leads to more problems, but I need to quiet the delusional part of me that believes I deserve to be treated this way.

I exhale slowly and nod to the bartender. “Another.”

“She’s had enough,” Erik tells her, holding his hand out. The woman rolls her eyes and leaves us to wait on an old man a few stools down.

“
Excuse
me? What are you,
my fucking dad
?” I ask, hearing the subtle slur to my words. “You don’t even know me!”

“I may not know you, but I know you’re a naive girl from the midwest with an ax to grind over something that really pissed you off, and I’m not going to let you get loaded and wander around the city all alone.” He grins into his glass of alcohol. “‘Cause I’d
really
like to join you if that is, in fact, your plan.” He takes a long drink before setting the glass down to stare at me.

The hot fire blazing between us is impossible to ignore. I want to wrap my fingers in his thick hair, and forget whatever Theo and Jewels think of me. The alcohol filling my blood stream only intensifies my desire to be with him.

My phone bursts out with Sir-Mix-a-Lot’s errant ramblings. It’s incredibly obnoxious in the otherwise relaxed bar, and quite frankly, embarrassing. Jewels thought she was
so
clever when she changed my ringtone the night before. Grumbling to myself, I silence it.

Erick chuckles, his eyebrows raised. “Avoiding someone?”

I know without looking that it’s Jewels, angry that I’m ignoring her texts. Once she knows the truth, she’ll be eager to lecture me on how immature I’m acting, and demand I come back. “Fuck this,” I mutter under my breath. I turn to Erik and touch his taut thigh. “You win. Let’s blow out of here.”